In the world of software development, choosing the right tools can significantly impact productivity, collaboration, and maintainability. Microsoft offers two powerful yet distinct tools: Visual Studio 2022 and Visual Studio Code. While their names suggest similarity, their purposes diverge sharply. So, if you already have Visual Studio 2022 installed, is there any real need to add VS Code to your toolkit? The answer is depending on your scenario.
If you're working on:
- Large-scale enterprise applications
- .NET or C++ projects with deep debugging needs
- Integrated Azure, Docker, or SQL workflows
- Complex solution management with multiple projects
Then Visual Studio 2022 likely covers all your bases. It’s designed for end-to-end development, offering everything from code editing to deployment pipelines.
Why Developers Still Use VS Code
Despite having Visual Studio 2022, many developers install VS Code for complementary reasons:
- Speed: VS Code launches instantly and is ideal for quick edits or scripting.
- Cross-platform: It runs on Linux and macOS, making it ideal for cloud-native or containerized workflows.
- Extension Ecosystem: VS Code supports thousands of extensions, including for Markdown, YAML, JSON, and even Jupyter Notebooks.
- Minimalism: For tasks like editing config files, writing documentation, or working with Git, VS Code is less cluttered.
Strategic Use in Academic and Cloud Contexts
For educators, researchers, and cloud-native developers like yourself, VS Code offers:
- Remote Development: Connect to cloud VMs or containers via SSH or WSL.
- Notebooks & AI: Excellent support for Python, Jupyter, and ML workflows.
- Curriculum Flexibility: Easier to onboard students with a lightweight editor.
Conclusion: Complement, Not Compete
Visual Studio 2022 and VS Code are not rivals—they’re complements. Think of Visual Studio as your full-featured lab, and VS Code as your agile field notebook. If your workflow spans enterprise systems, cloud-native environments, and academic experimentation, having both tools installed is not redundant—it’s strategic. If you have plenty space and storage, you can install Visual Studio, but if you have limitation, you can install one of the toolkit.